The most recent edition of the Statistical Digest published by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) is now available.  The 2011 Investments Statistical Digest presents the 2011 aggregate statistics gathered from approximately 7,000 regulated funds.

The Digest records a significant decline in hedge funds profitability, as reflected in the decrease in total net income from $170 billion to $14 billion in 2011. Even though the total net income is not as robust as 2010 figures, it nevertheless represents a positive return for the industry. In addition, overall ending net assets increased by 4% from US$1,728 billion to US$1,798 billion.

This significant decline in net income earned by funds is indicative of the challenges faced by the industry in a volatile market.  However, on the positive side, there has been an increase in subscriptions and a decrease in redemptions over the period.  In spite of the lower profitability, the net cash inflow (the difference between subscriptions and redemptions) into hedge funds increased from US$96 billion to US$139 billion.

The data also continues to show that smaller funds are the most common type of funds, as well as the dominance of the North American regions as the centres of the hedge funds Investment Managers. Asian centres, however, have also made significant growth in 2011.

The second section of the Statistical Digest presents the Statistical Stand-Alone Analysis, highlighting data from 2011 only, while the analytical data tables presented in the Statistical Trend Analysis section of the Statistical Digest compare the 2011 figures against 2010.

Data collected for 2011 represents approximately 81% of Cayman Islands-regulated funds that had a financial year-end during 2011, and 73% of all funds regulated in the jurisdiction as at December 2011.

The Digest is available on the Authority’s website at: http://www.cimoney.com.ky/about_cima/about_feed.aspx?id=2147484054